The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-01-22

tribuna. that is able to make it's Judgment effect
i've. And herein. without doubt, is the expana-
ton of the evidently deliberate failure of the
attorneys for the Leutenant-governor to
prosecute their appeal from the decree
of the Indianapolis Judge to the Indiana
Supreme judges. They had denied the
assumed jurisdiction of the inferior judge
In the broadcast and most positive terms-terms
that went not only to that particular judge, but
to all judicial magistrates and tribunals of every
name and grade, They had said: I'VE utterly
deny that this any other court has any juris-
diction in this case, and we are not here to at
tempt to confer on any judicial tribunal a
Jurisdiction that belongs to the General Assem-
bly, alone" Hardly consistent with this atti-
tude would have been their prosecution Of an
appeal from a tribunal whose authority they de-
MED to another whose authority they also denied
no less emphatlcally.
Undoubtedly their right course would have
been that which was taken by the respondents
IN the Chicago charter-election case in 1870
that is, to have treated the mandate of the court
as If there had been no such mandate There
seems to have been two causes of their Austen
ton from that method of "takng the bull by the
hornss-one, that they were afraid of the bull;
the other, that they were not able to command
their own forces.
fear of any power that the judiciary or the exec
utive could have exerted in the legislative cham
Der. 1t would be violent superstition that
Judge Ayres, or Governor Gray, or the sheriff OF
of Cromwell or of Phil Sheridan to prevent the
Lieutenant governor of Indiana from presiding
by the will of the Legislature in its own house,
especially as it was perfectly competent for the
Legislature to exclude those persons and ell
their agents from its own house. And it,
then, the judge had cited the Lieutenant
governor to answer for contempt, and the sher-
iff, catching him on the street, had arrested him
on q bench warrant, and the occupant of the
bench had committed him to prison-what,would
have been the consequence Certainly not
consequence that anyone but the judicial auto
crat need have dreaded, while the question of
his usurpation of authority could not have been
carried to a conclusive decision by more speedy
and effective road
But the principal reason for not taking that
better course doubtless was their inability to
command their own strength Certain Of their
partlsans in the Senate were menaced with the
sudden termination of their iilustrious public
careers by the method called 1.-The bounce" if
the House majority should persist in their pro-
gramme So. also, on the other side. 1t is hard,
terribly hard, for an aspiring statesman in en-
bryo. who has just succeeded in catching on to
the tail board of the of fame to be forced to
let 60. Herein is the main cause, without doubt,
of the sudden patching up of a truce among the
political anarchists in Indiana.
THE CIRCULATION TKEPrDs
Shebyville Republican.
By this contemplate compromise" the Re-
pubiicans conceded away all their strong points,
discredited their legal and political claims and
lowered their proud party flag at the tehests of
a lot of clustering DULLES. If any one will
show us single point of advantage that the
Republicans gained by this pusillanimous and
ill-advised Treaty with Tricksters" we will be
glad to note it with emphasis But we confess
that we can see nothing of the kind. To us it
seems to have been game of 'neads l win,
tails you lose" They have taken the turkey
and have not even left us the crow that
vouchsafed to the poor Indian by his shrewd
white antagonist AS far the Republicans
are concerned it was the bartering away of sa-
cred rights for a miserable peppercorn. The
man who sold his birthright for a mess of pot
tage is universally admitted to have acted un-
wisely. But what shall be thought
of him who sells his birthright and does
not even get mess of pottage in exchanged
This, however: is the attitude in which the Re-
publican party has been placed by its ''compro
| missing" managers who lowered their flag before
a gun was fired We record the fact with shame
and humiliation. The word "compromise" does
not sound we'll in Republican mouths, and 1t
does not look well on Republican banners. All
their greatest victories have been gained under
flag inscribed. "The old guard dies but never
| surrenders." Now we see our trusted leaders
throwing up their hands at the first demand of a
lot of footpads, headed by Cowboy Smith. The
spectacle is disgusting, and the results, we fear,
will be disastrous to Republican hopes. The
rights of a great party have been weakly bar
tered away by the Tribua.ion Trepids intrusted
with management in the two houses of the Leg
islature.
SOME REPUBLICAN MISTAKES.
South Bend Tribune.
at Indianapolis and others enlisted with right on
| their side in the contest which has been raging
| ever since the meeting of that body, have made
| two serious mistakes The first was in Colonel
Robertson paying any attention to the iniunc-
ton suit brought by Green Smith in the Marion
county Circuit Court. The jurisdiction in the
| Lieutenant-go vernorship case rested with the
| Legislature. The Circuit Court of Marion coun-
ty had no more right to a voice in it than the
| Circuit Court of st. Joseph county. 1t seems at
| this distance, though, as if the Republicans re-
| lied upon the non partisanshp of a Democratic
| judge, because he made two decisions favorable
| to Republicans, and got left. So long as the Re
| publicans kept out of court, they showed their
| belief that the court had jurisdiction.
The Democrats tried every scheme to get the
Republicans to take the matter into court. Fail.
ing to do SO, they took it into court themselves
and the scheme worked. The Republicans, with
| more legal foolishness than common sense ap
| peared In court as defendants where that court
had no jurisdiction. Law is a good thing in its
| way, but common sense is a great deal better
The second mistake was made In the so-called
compromise" BY which the Republican Speaker
| of the House and ueurper Smith, of the Senate
are to preside Jointly" over the joint sessions Of
| the Legislature, instead Of Lieutenant governor
| Robertson. This 'compromise' a mos
shameful surrender of the rights of Colonel Rob
| ertson and one which We cannot believe that hi
| was party to- knowing the man do. By
| these two acts the Republicans have frtteret
| away their rights and so handicapped the mselve
in the senatorial race that, if they should win
it will be miracle.
PROBABLY ASSISTED THE DEMOCRATS.
Indi annapolis Gazette.
The Republican members of the Legislator
had deservedly earned well-merited praise from
their party through the State, and had bee
commended for their course by many homes
Democrats and Democratic papers. Up to las
Wednesday they had shown true courage, when
suddenly. they changed front, allowed tn
usurper of the presidency of the Senate to com
into joint convention and call it to order, an